Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1907 on.
The Lafayette post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lafayette.
Lafayette was platted in 1897, and named for Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834), a French and American Revolutionary War general.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1907–1910Business district, Lafayette, Minnesota - DPLA - 882b…Postcard
c. 1907Business district, Lafayette, Minnesota - DPLA - a127…Postcard
1907–1917Business district, Lafayette, Minnesota - DPLA - ca02…Postcard
c. 1908After the Fire of October 2, 1908, Lafayette, Minneso…Postcard
1908Aftermath of the 1908 fire, Lafayette, Minnesota - DP…Postcard
1908Aftermath of the 1908 fire, Lafayette, Minnesota - DP…PostcardNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lafayette’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Lafayette itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Lafayette’s post office has been open since 1858.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Lafayette post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
